Israeli President Isaac Herzog has accepted the certified results of the 27 October parliamentary elections and begun consultations with parties on whom to task with forming a government — Benjamin Netanyahu or rival Gadi Eisenkot — The New York Times and wire reports said.

The move undercuts Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts to discredit the vote in which his bloc lost its Knesset majority and Arab-led parties made historic gains. “The elections are over. Now is the time to face reality,” Herzog said.

Neither Netanyahu’s bloc (53 seats) nor opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s (48) reached the 61 of 120 needed to govern. That leaves open a pact between the two men or an alliance between Eisenkot and Arab-led Ra’am and the Joint List, which secured a record 19 seats.

Herzog began Wednesday-night sit-downs: Religious Zionism, Zehut and Shas recommended Netanyahu; Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman, backed Eisenkot. Thursday’s round includes eight more parties, among them the Arab factions, with Eisenkot’s Yashar and Netanyahu’s Likud speaking last.

United Torah Judaism, a traditional Netanyahu ally, said it would recommend no one. Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas recommended Eisenkot while endorsing Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan and Hamas disarmament.

After consultations Herzog picks the candidate he thinks most likely to assemble a coalition; the mandate lasts 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension. If both fail, Israel would hold another election early next year. Many observers still tip Eisenkot to receive the first mandate.

Source: Israel’s president starts talks on forming a government (The New York Times)